PROJECT 001 ? GENOME MAINTENANCE RESEARCH PROGRAM PROJECT SUMMARY/ABSTRACT Cancer is a genetic disease caused by mutations, chromosomal abnormalities and chromatin changes that alter gene expression and protein function. This simple statement is the foundation of the Genome Maintenance Research Program (GM). GM is a cohesive network of basic science researchers whose collective mission is to understand processes affecting the integrity, expression and duplication of genetic material. This mission consists not only of explaining the etiology of cancer, but also understanding how existing therapeutics work, and identifying opportunities for new therapeutic development. The Program promotes the highest level of scientific discovery by fostering interactions among members, educating members on opportunities for collaborative research with other programs, and serving as a genome-centric resource for the entire Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center (VICC). Research interests of GM members include carcinogen metabolism, DNA metabolism, DNA damage responses, chromatin and gene expression, epigenetics, and the cell division cycle. There are 26 program members of GM from 11 departments and two schools, with $5.4M in NCI funding and $7M in other peer-reviewed cancer-related funding. Out of 399 publications, 15% are intra-programmatic and 21% are inter-programmatic. Members also have 160 collaborative publications with investigators at other institutions.